Snow Days!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

Well, we finally got the snow that some of us were wishing for! Some of us, being fourteen small ducks that were dreaming of snowmen, snow angels, sledding, and hot cocoa. From the pictures sent (thank you!), I’d have to say dreams came true.

I know that these few days probably put a wrench in your plans and caused disruption. But it also slowed us all down and forced us to focus on what’s really important. Memories were made that will far outlast the snow that fell. Three days might not have felt like a gift, but it was. I hope you all chose to open it, use it, and then tuck it away forever in your hearts. Trust me, later in life you will cherish it!

For our one day in the classroom we did have a lot of fun. The dentist’s office is now open in the loft and we had water blocks and water in our new sensory table. Another collaborative art piece is in the works and should be finished next week. We will continue on with these activities next week and add in a few more as well. It will be a busy week!

Brushing teeth

A large art project!

March 12 & 13 - Conferences - School is closed for spring conferences, but feel free to plan with a friend to watch each others’ children on the playground during your conferences.

Please sign up here.

We also would prefer that your child NOT be present during this time as it can be hard to have a productive conversation with them present. Thank you for your understanding. Note that we also have no school those two days.

March 25 - CCP Spirit Day/Night at Al’s Burgers!

March 27 - Casual music programs in the fellowship hall. (This is a new event! Shortly after drop-off on this Thursday, your child will sing a few songs with their class & Ms. Vicki for an audience of parents and special loved ones in Ascension Hall. More details to come…

Until Monday!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Dance Like No One's Watching!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

Sometimes as adults we forget to consider how children really feel about new things. When the Valentine’s Dance was approaching last week, we discussed all things dancing. We asked them how they felt about dancing, what they might wear, and prepared them for the fact that it would be dark when they came back to boogie. We could have left it at that. Instead, each day of the week before the big night, we learned a new dance move. Last Friday, our Yellow Ducks hit the dance floor with confidence and joy. They truly danced like no on was watching and we were so proud of them.

While you can’t always prepare for what life will throw at you or your child, for those times you can, it’s helpful to work through them together. Wonderful memories are made that are tucked away in your heart forever!

““Sing like no one is listening, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like no one is watching and live like it is heaven on earth.””
— Mark Twain

💕We had our well-planned Valentine’s Party on Thursday, and it was so much fun! I’m sure you heard all about it. The food, the decorations, craft, bingo, were all a hit. Ms. Carina provided us with fairy hair, which a couple of friends will get next Tuesday as we ran out of time!

We’d say the Yellow Ducks did a grand job of party planning. The had ideas and they made them happen either themselves or asked for assistance to get it done. Thank you to Erica Gaskins for providing treats and fun extras for our party.

Valentine bingo!

Delivering our Valentines.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14 & 17 - Preschool closed

March 12 & 13 - Conferences - School is closed for spring conferences, but feel free to plan with a friend to watch each others’ children on the playground during your conferences.

Please sign up here.

We also would prefer that your child NOT be present during this time as it can be hard to have a productive conversation with them present. Thank you for your understanding. Note that we also have no school those two days.

March 25 - CCP Spirit Day/Night at Al’s Burgers!

March 27 - Casual music programs in the fellowship hall. (This is a new event! Shortly after drop-off on this Thursday, your child will sing a few songs with their class & Ms. Vicki for an audience of parents and special loved ones in Ascension Hall. More details to come…

Enjoy your long weekend and we will see you in the classroom again next Tuesday!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Party Planning

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

It’s been a long week waiting for all of our Valentine’s Day events to start taking place! We feel like we are prepared and ready to dance, decorate for our party, and exchange our valentines. By the time this blog hits your inbox, we will have enjoyed our dance and witnessed our Ducks’ moves in action.

“Raise the roof!”

Next Thursday is the day of our big party we’ve been planning. We’ve been prepping all things valentines. We’ll play games and enjoy some treats We’ve been counting down the days and the excitement is real!

Next week we will make our trip to the big, blue mailbox around the corner to mail our Valentines. It should show up soon at your house. Thank you all for responding so quickly to our permission request this week. You are the best!

On Thursday, everyone learned how to make a paper heart. Each child got a piece of paper folded in half with a half of a heart drawn on it. Scissors were passed around the circle and they got to work cutting on that line. When they were finished, they proudly held them up for all to see. We revisited the concept of symmetry again with this lesson, and how to patiently and kindly return scissors to their proper home. We’ll use these hearts to make a banner for our party.

Sooo…the beginning of this week was pretty exciting with Valentine themed items around the room. Our vet clinic and ice cream shop are still open as well. By Wednesday, apparently there was a strike by the clean-up workers because we had a lot of things still left out. I observed as many children not only were not cleaning up, but were actually continuing on playing. I explained that they did not have to clean up and that Ms. Carina and I would take care of everything left out and put it away, like as in really away. No one seemed to mind and continued on their merry ways. We moved on to snack, the letter B, and dancing. Then, Ms. Carina and I took some big buckets and gathered all of the items that were left out. Both were full. We explained that they would get those items back on Monday and showed them how many days that was on the calendar. No one said much about it and it was time to dismiss.

All Thursday and Friday those buckets sat there as a reminder of their choice. By clean-up time the strike was over and the room has never been so clean! As the last children were leaving, I found them picking up the scraps of paper from our heart cutting practice.

No one cried during this experience. No one threw a tantrum. This was not a punishment as they all were informed of the outcome beforehand. They all learned a valuable lesson. Children have a choice in most decisions in their lives, even at four and five. And, with choices come consequences, which can be good or bad.

What choices are you letting your child make for themselves? The more practice they have, the better they will become at making the right ones as they grow older. If your child is struggling with something at home, give them some choices, let them choose and then follow through with whatever deal you have made with your preschooler. It’s scary at first but I promise it will get easier!

The buckets of poor choices…😉

REMINDERS

Our annual Valentine Dance will be tonight, Feb. 7 from 6:00-7:30 pm. The fellowship hall will be transformed into a party! People have asked what to wear…dress fancy, dress casual, just come dressed ready to dance!

Valentine’s Celebration - We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day on Thursday, Feb. 13th. Please send in Valentines with your child on that day and our ducks will deliver them to one another using their decorated bags we’ve made here in the classroom. If you’d like to include a treat with your Valentines, feel free to do so as long as it’s store bought and individually wrapped. Have your child sign their names on their Valentine cards and leave the “to” part and envelope, if there is one, blank. This way they can practice writing their own name and not be overwhelmed by writing all of their friends’ names. We have 14 Ducks in our class.

February 14th & 17th - No school (teacher work day Monday)

March 12 & 13 - Conferences - School is closed for spring conferences, but feel free to plan with a friend to watch each others’ children on the playground during your conferences.

March 25 - CCP Spirit Day/Night at Al’s Burgers!

March 27 - Casual music programs in the fellowship hall. (This is a new event! Shortly after drop-off on this Thursday, your child will sing a few songs with their class & Ms. Vicki for an audience of parents and special loved ones in Ascension Hall. More details to come…

It’s Friday and we hope you put your dancing shoes on to boogie with us tonight!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Collaborative Art and Pancakes & PJs

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

We have been working on some collaborative art pieces the past several weeks and they have turned out beautifully. One piece was made up of driftwood pieces from the beaches of Lake Superior. Sections and stripes were taped off and the children got busy painting them with black and white paint. Some mixed the colors and made gray. When they were dry, they were grouped together to make a wreath of sorts.

Another one was done by dragging a small squeegee across a small portion of paint that was on the edge of a large piece of paper. After everyone pulled their paint in their own way, it was left to dry and then was outlined to make everything pop!

Look for these art installations in our room to the right of the door as you walk in.

Why do collaborative art?

Collaborative art is a great team building exercise for preschoolers. The focus is not so much on the artistic product but instead, to help support:

  • Following instructions

  • Flexible thinking

  • Compromise

  • Sharing

Of course, we always have individual art opportunities each day for those who thrive on expressing themselves in their own way.

“Every child is a different kind of flower, and altogether make this world a beautiful garden.”
— Anonymous

Our arctic friends were in our sensory table playing in some snow. “Instant Snow Powder” is made of safe and non-toxic superabsorbent polymer, developed specifically to imitate most of the properties of snow. It’s actually similar to what is inside of a diaper 😄. When water is added to the dry mix, it can grow to 100 times its size. It was fun to watch it grow right in our hands!

We also observed a water bead with the same properties expand in a small jar of water. It started with a tiny speck and blew up to the size of a marble by the end of the day. We then took the bead out and watched it shrink back down via evaporation by the next day.

Let it snow!

On Wednesday we enjoyed our Pancakes and PJs day. It only comes once a year and we were ready for it! We spent a comfy morning working in our classroom in our pjs. By ten o’clock, the pancake invitation was in the air calling us to Ascension Hall. Everyone filled their bellies with pancakes, fruit, and juice. It was delicious! Thank you to all who helped make this day possible. We couldn’t do this special day without you!

“Yum!”

REMINDERS

Our annual Valentine Dance will be next Friday, Feb. 7 from 6:00-7:30 pm. The fellowship hall will be transformed into a party! People have asked what to wear…dress fancy, dress casual, just come dressed ready to dance! Keep in mind, this is a kid-friendly, family event. Our Ducks will also be learning some dance moves for this next week!

Valentine’s Celebration - We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day on Thursday, Feb. 13th (note that this is a corrected date from last week, silly me😊). Please send in Valentines with your child on that day and our ducks will deliver them to one another using their decorated bags we’ll make here in the classroom. If you’d like to include a treat with your Valentines, feel free to do so as long as it’s store bought and individually wrapped. Have your child sign their names on their Valentine cards and leave the “to” part and envelope, if there is one, blank. This way they can practice writing their own name and not be overwhelmed by writing all of their friends’ names. We have 14 Ducks in our class.

February 14th & 17th - No school (teacher work day Monday)

March 12 & 13 - Conferences - School is closed for spring conferences, but feel free to plan with a friend to watch each others’ children on the playground during your conferences.

March 25 - CCP Spirit Day/Night at Al’s Burgers!

March 27 - Casual music programs in the fellowship hall. (This is a new event! Shortly after drop-off on this Thursday, your child will sing a few songs with their class & Ms. Vicki for an audience of parents and special loved ones in Ascension Hall. More details to come…

Just like that, another week is gone. Soak up all the fun the weekend brings!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Winter Fun!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

With only two days this week, we packed in a lot of activities. Some plastic penguins got stuck in some ice this week and little fingers used pipettes and warm water to free them. Some stayed the entire center time doing this activity they enjoyed it so much. The penguins will return with some of their cold weather friends next week to skate in our sensory table.

How do you keep a four or five-year old busy for 30 minutes? See answer above.😉

 The children had the opportunity to create their own winter castles out of paper cups, paper cones, plastic ice cubes, and “snow”. We had pictures of real and pretend castles on our table that they could use for reference. Some were surprised that there are real castles in the world. Everyone shared some new winter capes in our dress up area. They kept us warm on these cold days!

We have a literacy area in our room where we encourage letter writing, letter recognition, and exercise of finger muscles. We have had laminated snowmen with letters on them to trace, Lego letters, letter transformers, and different ways to extend a book we’ve read in class with dioramas. Next week our table will have wooden building words. There is also a reading area in our room with several books to enjoy. Often, many of the activities we offer we have found online. Here are a couple of ideas you can use at home:

https://beyondtheplayroom.com/rainbow-salt-writing-tray/

https://mrsplemonskindergarten.com/2017/11/preschool-community.html

In our loft, we opened up a vet clinic and have been taking care of all kinds of animals. They’ve been bandaged, brought back to life at times, and had their shots. You might want to save up for vet school as many have really loved this area.

In our kitchen area, an ice cream shop has opened and we have enjoyed all flavors of ice cream and toppings. The children have enjoyed serving each other and us too. It is the best kind of ice cream shop as it’s calorie free!

Dr Micah brought this cat back to life!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

COMING UP…

PANCAKES & PJ’S - Wear your pajamas to preschool on Wed, Jan 29! We will eat at 10:00am in Ascension Hall. This will be our snack so just plan on sending lunch for that day. Erica Gaskins will be communicating with you about how you can help. If you are setting up or cooking pancakes, you may start right after drop off. Ms. Debbie will be around to answer questions.

Our annual Valentine Dance will be on Friday, Feb. 7 from 6:00-7:30 pm. Put on your dancing clothes and shoes! The fellowship hall will be transformed into a party! This event is for your whole family. It’s always a favorite!

Valentine’s Day - We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day on Thursday, Feb. 13th. Please send in Valentines with your child on that day and our ducks will deliver them to one another using their decorated bags we’ll make here in the classroom. If you’d like to include a treat with your Valentines, feel free to do so as long as it’s store bought and individually wrapped. Have your child sign their names on their Valentine cards and leave the “to” part and envelope, if there is one, blank. This way they can practice writing their own name and not be overwhelmed by writing all of their friends’ names. We have 14 Ducks in our class.

February 14th & 17th - No school (teacher work day Monday)

March 12 & 13 - Conferences - School is closed for spring conferences, but feel free to plan with a friend to watch each others’ children on the playground during your conferences.

March 25 - CCP Spirit Day/Night at Al’s Burgers!

March 27 - Casual music programs in the fellowship hall. (This is a new event! Shortly after drop-off on this Thursday, your child will sing a few songs with their class & Ms. Vicki for an audience of parents and special loved ones in Ascension Hall. More details to come…

So many fun things to do during winter! We hope you are enjoying this time of year with your duck and exploring all things cold.

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Hibernation!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

The Yellow Duck class discussed hibernation this past week. We have identified what it is, who does it, and why. All of the animals brought from home have now gone into their cave/den and will stay there until March 20th, the first day of spring. What a great exercise in being patient! This exercise was not only to discover the many wonders of hibernation but also to allow our ducks the experience of parting with a toy for a long duration of time. Two and a half months is a long time for to be without their animal. We know they can do it though because they can do hard things!

Animals sleeping, shhh!

This week we wrote our names on paper snowballs and made snowmen ⛄️. Everyone counted how many letters they had in their name. Brooklynn had the most with nine letters! Math and handwriting practice, all in one activity.

For the next few weeks, I’ll give you a glimpse of one center in our classroom. This week, it’s our math area. Each week we change up the materials in this area. Sometimes we offer a game to work on counting and taking turns. Next week we will count and place the appropriate number of buttons on numbered snowmen. Earlier in the year, we we tried out AB, ABC, and ABCD patterns and the children are quite good at them. Last week we had a snowflake counting activity where beautiful ice gems were used. Beyond our math center, each day we are using our wish-well board to count how many ducks are present and how many are absent. Then we throw in some addition or subtraction and we are practicing equations! Our calendar gives the opportunity to count every day. The study of geometric 3d shapes and shapes have boosted our geometry skills. We try to cover all the ways that math will be required in Kindergarten and do it in a way that is fun so as not to let them know it’s work! Here are links to some great math activities and free printables if you’d like to work on these at home too.

https://www.preschoolplayandlearn.com/counting-snowman-activity-for-preschoolers/

https://www.preschoolplayandlearn.com/snowman-printable-shape-puzzles/

https://teachbesideme.com/eye-dropper-dot-counting/

https://frugalfun4boys.com/two-preschool-math-activities-with-duplo-legos/

REMINDERS:

School closed Monday, January 20.

Pancakes and Pajamas - We have planned our annual school-wide Pancakes and PJ’s on Wednesday, February 29th. Watch for more details, but for now, please mark your calendars.

Looking ahead - Our annual Valentine Dance will be on Friday, Feb. 7 from 6:00-7:30 pm. Put on your dancing clothes and shoes! The fellowship hall will be transformed into a party! This event is for your whole family. It’s always a favorite!

Remember that this coming Monday is a holiday and we will have no school. Take that extra day and do something unexpected with your duck. Play a game of Candy Land (you can pick one up at the Dollar Tree). Freeze plastic animals in ice and let your child free them with small tools. Dip your hands in snow (shaving cream). Whatever you do, make it fun!

Stay warm!❄️

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Happy New Year!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

Welcome back to preschool! How did we get to 2025 so quickly? We hope you all had a restful break with your duck and feel ready to get back into the groove of school again.

During this week we packed in some fun activities. We wrote our letters in shaving cream, made beautiful beaded snowflakes, worked on some winter process art, explored different kinds of salt, and stomped some dinosaurs around our loft. Oh yeah, we can’t leave out the hot cocoa stand on the playground and the reall hot cocoa with four marshmallows we enjoyed at snack time!

Writing in shaving cream

So focused!

Fine motor work

Winter process art

Which melts ice best—-rock salt, epsom salt, or table salt?

Dinos in our loft

Next week we will be learning about hibernation. We would love for your child to bring in a small, stuffed (or plastic) animal to “hibernate” in a box in our classroom until spring. Please send in one that your child can part with for this duration. We have discussed this in our classroom and some of the children were not so sure about having to leave a toy here for so long. This isn’t required so if your child doesn’t want to bring an animal, it’s okay. When spring comes, there will be a celebration for those animals!

We have a new book coming home next week! It’s called the “Yellow Duck Counting Book”. It will be sent home each day with someone new to read with their family. Then, pop the book back in its bag and return it the following day for the next duck to share at their house. We hope you enjoy counting the 14 ducks with your little one!

REMINDERS:

School closed - January 20

Pancakes and Pjs - January 29 in Ascension Hall

We hope you stay warm this weekend and do all the winter things that make you happy!

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Merry Christmas! 🎄

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

It’s almost here! Seven more long days of waiting for Christmas to finally arrive.

Thank you for being a part of our Christmas concert. It was so nice to come together and celebrate as a school family. Our Ducks did an amazing job singing today and we couldn’t be prouder. Broadway should be on alert for this coming tribe of amazing singers!

Practicing for the big day!

Ms. Carina and I would like to extend our thanks for all of your thoughtful gifts to us. We are humbled by your generosity. We are grateful for the cards and drawings from our Ducks, and the kind, heartfelt words of encouragement and thanks from you. And again, we thank you for the gift of sharing your children with us. Each day brings wonders, adventure, and best of all, love. Can work get any better than that?!!

BACK TO SCHOOL - We look forward to seeing your smiling faces back at preschool on Monday, January 6, 2025.

This week we all shared what we wanted for Christmas. Here are the wishes we heard…

Kitty - Madeline

Red and gray transformer - Jackson

Princess bag - Eloise

A big drone - William

Reindeer and horse with wings and sleigh that you can ride - Zoe

Truck with fork lift - Micah

Princess dress - Brooklynn

Red nose reindeer pet - Wesley

Scooter and magic wand - Reese

Grown up watch - Charlie

American girl soccer clothes - Ivy Rose

Unicorn bounce house - Lucy

Toy cats - Winnie

I hope whatever they receive, they are happy with it!

Enjoy your next few weeks together eating, playing, and hopefully, doing a little napping. The best gift you can give to your child is not listed above, it is the gift of time. Time spent fully engaged, in their world, and without a phone anywhere near. In fact, lock the phone in a box and send it down the river 🙂. This gift is priceless and will be remembered long after all the Christmas toys are forgotten or broken. And, it will be remembered by you both, even when you’ve blinked and they’ve flown away. Trust me, I know…

In Heavenly Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Problems and Solutions

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

I’d like to tell you about a time not so far back, that I struggled with my communication. I’m vertically challenged and I was often frustrated by this. When I couldn’t reach an item on a high shelf I’d say something like, “I can’t reach this”. Most times, my husband or son would come to the rescue and help. A few years back, my husband finally said to me after one such instance, “You’re telling me your problem, what’s the solution?” In other words he was saying, “USE YOUR WORDS LADY”. He was correct. I wasn’t using my words to ask for help and everyone knows we can’t read each other’s minds (even though we think others should 😉). Being a little too independent, that was hard for me to do but I’ve gotten better at asking for help.

Like myself, many of the Ducks started out the year with problem statements like:

“My water is all gone.”

“They won’t stop chasing me.”

“I can’t get this marker top off.”

We didn’t fix their problem (which would have been much easier), but we said to them, “That’s a problem, what do you think could be a solution?” At first they really didn’t know how to solve their problem. We walked each one through their dilemma and now we hear less and less problem statements and see them using words to create solutions. It’s still hard for some, but over the next few months they will become comfortable using the tools we’ve given them. Try noticing at home if they are stating problems and then before solving their issue, ask them what they think might be a good solution.

After finishing the Old Testament in November, we have moved on to the New Testament. Of course, the timing for starting the New Testament was aligned with the Christmas season and why it’s celebrated. However, this week we took some time and looked at Hanukkah and how it relates to the Old Testament. We didn’t dive deep into the details of the season, but looked at the ways people who follow the Old Testament still celebrate it today. We looked at photos of the food served during this season and shared some chocolate gelt coins which represents money that might be given as a gift. By the end of the year, we will have read through the whole Bible, discussing all of the wonders of it along the way!

We’ve used patterning in our art area to make beaded candy canes. We’ve seen the AB and ABC patterns used. Math and art do go together!

We had our class Christmas celebration Wednesday. We made a snowman with air dry clay and then decorated it, complete with a scarf and hat! We ended our festivities with cookie decorating. Everyone had free rein over the frosting choices and the sprinkles. A huge thank you to our parent rep, Erica Gaskins (Jackson’s mom) for organizing and collecting the supplies for our fete. Thank you to Emilie Olsen (Micah’s mom) and Kristin Waitkus (Lucy’s mom), for helping to prepare, and to assist our Ducks with anything they needed on this day. We were blessed indeed!

CHRISTMAS CONCERT… Wed, Dec. 18 at 9:30 for our annual CCP Christmas Concert in the Sanctuary. Each class will sing a song or two and we will tell the Christmas story. It is our gift to you! Take your child to their classroom at 9:00 and find a seat in the sanctuary. We will begin at 9:30. Right after, everyone will go home and start their Christmas break. 🎄 Please keep in mind that you may need to park in the municipal lots around Southern Village since the whole school will be assembled.

If your child will not be here for any of the days next week, please let us know. We have gifts they have made for you and some Christmas art that will be sent home probably on Tuesday. Reply where it says “CLICK HERE to email Shelly directly”.

Enjoy the weekend!

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

So Long November, Hello December!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

It’s here! December arrived this week with much anticipation and preparation. The Ducks have painted a Christmas tree together using pine branches as paint brushes. It was great fun to use science to paint with. We hung the tree on our bulletin board and dressed it up with lights.

We have worked on some special gifts for our families, but shhh, it’s a surprise!

Everyone got to paint a house for our Christmas village in our room. There was a lot of excitement at the table as they painted their house any color they wanted. Some drew doors and windows, some just wanted to paint it, and each one got a wreath. Every house is a unique creation that every child was very proud of. Come in and check them out at drop-off before the village is broken up and sent home, one by one.

With the return of cold weather, we’ve been working hard on putting on our own coats. The Magic Coat Trick has come in handy for a time such as this. Here’s how it works:

Have the child put the coat down on the floor (or a table). They need to stand near the tag/hood, put their arms through the arm holes, and flip the coat over their head.

Once a child is used to looking at their coat upside down, this becomes a breeze.

Tag by the toes…

hands in the holes…

and over it goes!

“I did it!”

PLEASE RESERVE… Wed, Dec. 18 at 9:30 for our annual CCP Christmas Concert in the Sanctuary. Each class will sing a song or two and we will tell the Christmas story. It is our gift to you! Take your child to their classroom at 9:00 and find a seat in the sanctuary. We will begin at 9:30. Right after, everyone will go home and start their Christmas break. 🎄 Please keep in mind that you may need to park in the municipal lots around Southern Village since the whole school will be assembled.

-Now that it is cold, please be sure you have a change of clothes in the cubby appropriate for winter weather.

Take a big breath (or two!) and take in all that this season means with your sweet Duck this weekend!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

Thanksgiving is upon us with Christmas right on its heels! Are you ready? In the Yellow Duck classroom we have been busy making Thanksgiving cards for you. With pictures of actual turkeys on the table for reference, the children did the hard work of making their play-dough turkey and then bringing it to the portrait studio to have its picture taken. We had some adorable turkeys!

One handsome turkey!

Even with a short week, our classroom was as busy as ever! We made our apple pie today, with each child able to turn the crank of the apple peeler, corer, slicer machine, crush up the graham crackers for the crust, and use our new kids’ knives to cut up the slices (thank you Waitkus family ❤️). Everyone was amazed that turning a handle could make such magic! Ms. Carina’s Instant Pot did the cooking while we played in our centers/playground, and it was ready to eat by snack time. With a little whipped cream on the top, that “pie” disappeared in a short time! Our Ducks were proud of their efforts of coming together and making something so delicious.

Peeling, coring, and slicing with one hand!

Cutting the apple slices

Yum!

In our free art area, several bracelets were made for friends and family. Such small beads made for great fine motor practice and hand eye coordination. It was also lovely to see our Ducks think of someone else as they thoughtfully chose beads according to whom they were being made for. I hope those who received them treasure them, as they were made with so much love!

THANKSGIVING BREAK - November 27-29. No school. Eat turkey 🦃!

PLEASE RESERVE… Wed, Dec. 18 at 9:30 for our annual CCP Christmas Concert in the Sanctuary. Each class will sing a song or two and we will tell the Christmas story. It is our gift to you! Take your child to their classroom at 9:00 and find a seat in the sanctuary. We will begin at 9:30. Right after, everyone will go home and start their Christmas break. 🎄 Please keep in mind that you may need to park in the municipal lots around Southern Village since the whole school will be assembled.

WIPES - Cold/flu season is upon us! If you have an extra canister of Lysol or Clorox wipes or a can of Lysol spray that you could donate, we could sure put those to use. Thank you to all who have already brought some in!

Know that Ms. Carina and I are so very thankful for our ducks and for you, their families. Each day we don’t have to go to work, we get to go to work. We love that you share your greatest treasures with us here at CCP!

Cheers, to time spent with family and friends this Thanksgiving week! Now, go make those pies!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Thank you for all the love!

Creating Calm

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

To continue on with the theme of last week’s blog about children watching us, know that you have the power to set the tone in your spaces. Kids will try to highjack the calm in our lives. All. The. Time. They might throw tantrums, jump like primates, or dig their heels in and refuse to cooperate at any given time. It’s all part of them still learning how to be a functioning human being. How we react to them is the key in teaching them how to work through power struggles and the desire to run with the wolves.

Woven throughout our day, we have times of purposeful calm and full speed movement. When we start our day we try to greet with calmness to keep our energy intentionally low. It’s one of the reasons most days you’ll find me sitting in the entry of our classroom quietly saying good morning. Ms. Carina is waiting for them on the rug to help prepare them for our circle time which starts right after drop-off.

We have plenty of center options for them to keep themselves engaged during our center time. Most of it is productive, but sometimes play can get a bit rowdy and we need to come alongside them calmly to assist. Then, poof—like. magic, their energy matches ours. Occasionally, we’ll need a brain break and we’ll head to Ascension Hall to take a spin on the scooters or chase balloons. Of course playground time is the biggest brain break of all. Everyone gets to run like a house on fire.

By the end of our day, we’re ready with a peaceful exit strategy. Reading stories, yoga, finger fiddle-faddle exercises, or the conversation game, all help deliver your child back to you in a productive way.

We try to remember that we can only control ourselves. When we control ourselves going into battle (see first paragraph), our little friends will almost always match our energy (see third paragraph). 🙂 How do you create calm in your spaces? Here are some ways that might be helpful: -routines, dim the lights, classical music, hit the swings, take 10 deep breaths, a body sock.

We are still learning about geometric solids. We’ve discussed the shapes, but the children are really enjoying holding 3D solids in their hands, seeing them out in the world, and sitting inside a square-based pyramid (t-pee). We’ve even had requests to learn more than one a week. These kids are going to rock eight grade math!

A fine example of a square based pyramid!

Are you smarter than a four-year old?

As the weather is dictating warmer clothing, we will leave you with these two thoughts:

~Labeling coats, hats, and mittens really help with anything left behind.

~Imagine 14 children needing assistance with getting their coat on. If your child is struggling to do this task, practice with them at home 😉. Thanks for your help!

We are making apple pie, CCP style the day before our break. We will make applesauce and enjoy it with a graham cracker crust and some whipped cream. Because this is a celebration of sharing, would you please send in an apple of the crisp variety (Red Delicious, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, etc.🍎) Monday the 25th or Tuesday the 26th? We will be ending our day Tuesday with this treat!

THANKSGIVING BREAK - November 27-29. No school. Eat turkey 🦃!

Please mark your December calendar…We will have our Preschool Christmas Concert on the last day of preschool before Christmas. It will be on Wednesday , December 18 at 9:30am in the Sanctuary. We will sing a few songs and tell the Christmas story. We will have our program at 9:30 and then everyone will go home with their families after the program. More details to come as we get closer, but for now, please mark your calendar for this special day.

WIPES - Cold/flu season is upon us! If you have an extra canister of Lysol or Clorox wipes or a can of Lysol spray that you could donate, we could sure put those to use. Thanks!

Stay warm this weekend!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

“I’m a four-year-old with a six-year-old shadow!”

"Can I Tell You Something?"

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

“Can I tell you something?”

Have you heard that line at home? For the past few weeks, our ducks have been using that line with us. I (Ms. Shelly) realized that I say that a lot and they have picked up on it. I’m also reminded that these ducks are watching every move we make and listening to every word we say. We don’t take that responsibility lightly either. We have been singing and dancing alongside them, digging together in the sand, playing games, riding bikes, and listening to their stories from day one. They see and hear that we are 100% present. They have invited us into their world and we’ve accepted. Now we bring our worlds with us and expand their knowledge with all that we know, and BOOM, they’re off and running, oftentimes teaching us new things. Can I tell you something? Your children are amazing!

Who’s winning?

Let’s race!

We had a lot of F-words on Thursday. 😉

As a reward for reading the blog, I give you an adorable puppy picture. My dog, Lilja, had puppies five weeks ago. Here is one of them. Can you even?


THANKSGIVING BREAK - November 27-29. No school. Eat turkey 🦃!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we are making apple pie, CCP style the day before our break. We will make applesauce and enjoy it with a graham cracker crust and some whipped cream. Because this is a celebration of sharing, would you please send in an apple of the crisp variety (Red Delicious, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, etc.🍎) later next week or Monday the 25th or Tuesday the 26th? We will be ending our day Tuesday with this treat!

Please mark your December calendar…We will have our Preschool Christmas Concert on the last day of preschool before Christmas. It will be on Wednesday , December 18 at 9:30am in the Sanctuary. We will sing a few songs and tell the Christmas story. We will have our program at 9:30 and then everyone will go home with their families after the program. More details to come as we get closer, but for now, please mark your calendar for this special day.

Can I tell you one more thing? The year so far has been such a great one. As we look around our classroom on any given day, your children are excitedly engaged in whatever it is we’ve thrown at them. We are proud of how much they’ve all grown in our school garden so far this year!

Happy weekend!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Good Bye Pete...It's All Good!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

Our Pete the Cat loft will be changing next week, but we had a good time celebrating the cool feline. We read his books, played a counting game with groovy buttons, and wrote a book. We took pictures of everyone’s “school shoes”, glued them on paper and everyone wrote their name under their shoes. There is a little “guess who” flap that hides their name so they can make a game out of reading it. The book is going home each day with a different duck to be read to their family. We hope you enjoy it!

We have been introducing shapes and solids to our Ducks. They are learning that a circle is a shape but a sphere is a solid. We have been looking at all of the everyday items that are solids. See if you can find some with your duck in your home. The next time you head to Target, don’t be surprised when your child points out the spheres at the front of the store!

ellipsoid, cube, circle, cone, ovoid, and cylinder

The letter D!

Letters, numbers, and reading will come, but we’ve been working on building a school family since September. This Conscious Discipline concept encourages intrinsic motivation, problem-solving, and connection. The following photo clearly demonstrates that this is now happening in the Duck class!

Connection!

NOVEMBER 11 - Preschool closed-Veterans’ Day. Thank you to all of our veterans for their sacrifice and willingness to protect our nation.

THANKSGIVING BREAK - November 27-29. No school. Eat turkey 🦃!

Please mark your December calendar…We will have our Preschool Christmas Concert on the last day of preschool before Christmas. It will be on Wednesday , December 18 at 9:30am in the Sanctuary. We will sing a few songs and tell the Christmas story. We will have our program at 9:30 and then everyone will go home with their families after the program. More details to come as we get closer, but for now, please mark your calendar for this special day.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Costumes and Parades!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

Our Halloween parade on Thursday was so much fun! Everyone got to show off their costume all around Southern Village. It was good to see so many families join us. I know your children loved it! Thank you for coming.

After our parade we got to play some Halloween bingo. Everyone did such a good job of learning how to play it. We did have a winner who filled up their card first, but we then played until everyone’s card was filled. What an important lesson in losing gracefully and in patience.

It’s now November and as we head toward the holidays, the Yellow Duck classroom will be busy getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have some “pies” to prepare, cards to make, and gifts to paint. Along the way we will be checking on the pumpkin seeds that we planted last week. We asked the children after carving the pumpkin what we should do with the seeds, and they wanted to plant some. So, we did! We planted seeds in a pot and placed it on the shelf near the window. Guess what? We have a pumpkin plant already! It came up so quickly and we didn’t even notice it until today.

A pumpkin plant!

We also observed the slow demise of a large pumpkin this week. We looked inside and saw mold growing and noticed that it was starting to smell. Someone actually wretched looking inside of it, so we knew it was time for it to go. We asked the children what we should do with it and we decided that it would go down to the playground to be monitored. It was very heavy so we had to get creative to get it down there. We retrieved a floor scooter and attached a string to it. They team-lifted the pumpkin onto it and rolled it out the front door and down the sidewalk, because everyone knew the wheels wouldn’t make it down the steps. All took a turn pulling it and we’re happy to say, it made it in one piece (it did fall over a couple of times 😊). We challenged these kiddos to think and do, instead of us doing it all for them. They can do hard things when given the chance!

“It smells like socks that have never been washed!” - Charlie

Pete the Cat has been hanging out in our loft area this week. He’s brought counting games and books on cds with him. Everyone is taking turns trying out the headphones or rolling Pete’s big dice. On Monday, we showed two of our friends how to make the cd player and cd work, and then each day they have passed on their knowledge to the next friends who wanted the experience too. What great teachers they have become and IT pros 😄!

“It’s all good!” - Pete the Cat

NOVEMBER 11 - Preschool closed-Veterans’ Day.

SCHOOL SPIRIT - On Wednesday, Nov. 6 we will celebrate “SCHOOL SPIRIT DAYS” at Christ Church Preschool! You can wear your CCP shirts or wear the class color - YELLOW!

NOVEMBER 3RD - It will happen in the cloak of darkness. It may steal your joy. It will be dark at 5 now. Don’t forget it’s daylight savings weekend. Yup, this is the best weekend isn’t it (said no parent ever)? May this go well for you all!

See you on the flip side!

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Symmetry, Pumpkin Pounding, and a Fire Truck!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

On Tuesday, the big, light blue Chapel Hill fire truck rolled into our parking lot. The firefighters taught us about 911, what to do in case of a fire, and what they looked like in all of their gear. We also got to peek in their firetruck and check out where they ride when they are going to help someone and see all of their equipment.

How do you keep a preschooler busy for more than 20 minutes? Place a pumpkin on the table and give them a small hammer and some “nails” (golf tees). What fun was had this week pounding on pumpkins and working our hand and finger muscles. As you can see by the faces in the pictures below, this was serious business!

We’ve started discussing symmetry is this week and how leaves and our bodies are built this way. We noticed that each side of our faces match, similar to how each side of a leaf does. On Wednesday, everyone got a small clipboard, some colored pencils, and a piece of paper with half of a leaf on it. They were asked to draw in the other side of the leaf to make it symmetrical. This was a difficult assignment, but everyone tried their best and we celebrated how well they did!

TRUNK OR TREAT will take place at the church office parking lot on this Sunday, Oct 27 beginning at 4:00. Bring your little ones by to enjoy a treat!

OCTOBER 31 🎾- We hope you can join us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village (inside if raining).  Please send your child to school in their costume and drop them off at the classroom at the regular time.  The Ducks will meet parents and special grown-ups outside in front of the church at 9:25 a.m. and start our parade with the Blue Whales class.  Families are welcome to dress up too.  Please help your child change out of their costume after the parade.  If you are OK with them wearing their costume all day that is fine too, but we will be our normal messy selves and play outside that day.

NOVEMBER 11 - Preschool closed-Veterans’ Day.

Cheers to another beautiful weekend! If you need me, I’ll be outside playing. 😁🍂

Peace,

Ms. Shelly Ms. Carina

The Art of Conversation

Hello Yellow Duck Families,


These past weeks we’ve spent time together as a large group practicing the fine art of conversation. Actually, the fine art of polite conversation. We placed an object (a toy hammer), that would provoke a story or comment from each child, inside a small gift bag. Then, we asked the children to take a turn peeking inside but not sharing what the object was. We made it all the way around the circle without anyone saying a word! Afterwards we passed the hammer around the circle and each child could tell something they knew about hammers. Everyone waited for their turn and everybody who wanted to share was able to do so respectfully. We heard:

“You can use it to pound in a screw.” (Don’t laugh, I’ve done it. Don’t tell me husband 😊)

“It has a handle.”

“You can hurt yourself with this part .” (The claw)

It was a beautiful site to behold. We will continue to practice having polite conversations both in large and small groups until the end of the year. It will be fun to watch how much they grow in this area.

Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.” - Emily Post

PUMPKINS! - Many thanks to those who brought in a pumpkin this past week 🎃. We made observations about the outside of a pumpkin such as its color, stem, and that it had lines on it. We made predictions about what we thought might be on the inside and all of them were correct. We also experienced how the democratic voting process works when everyone had an opportunity to vote on how to carve one of our pumpkins. The happy face won and no one was too disappointed when their choice wasn’t picked. There is that pivoting and flexibility in real time!

This week we have rolled out our whiteboard easel in our circle time area for some vertical writing practice. The children have access to dry-erase markers and have done a great job of making sure the caps are put back on. We’ve had some beautiful art and some letters! Writing or playing vertically improves a variety of different skills. It improves pencil grasp, shoulder/elbow stability, bilateral coordination, posture, hand/eye coordination, and the ability to naturally cross the midline. So much packed into this type of play! Here are some easy ideas for playing vertically at home:

Play with shaving cream on an easel or mirror Hang paper on the wall and put stickers on the paper Play with magnets on the refrigerator Coloring on all surfaces of a box, inside and out Squirting/wiping/squeegee-ing windows “Painting” a fence with water

Drawing a house

We worked on the letter L this week! How many things start with L in your house?

PHOTOS - Here is the link to view your child’s photos from Wednesday: https://davidgellatly.smugmug.com/SCHOOLS-2024. The password is pizza. There isn’t a bad picture in the bunch! We have such beautiful Ducks.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27TH - The Chapel Hill Fire Department will visit us next Tuesday and talk about fire safety and we may even get a close up look at their truck. This is all dependent on if they have no emergencies of course!

TRUNK OR TREAT will take place at the church office parking lot on Sunday, Oct 27 beginning at 4:00. Bring your little ones by to enjoy a treat!

OCTOBER 31 - We hope you can join us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village (inside if raining).  Please send your child to school in their costume and drop them off at the classroom at the regular time.  The Ducks will meet parents and special grown-ups outside in front of the church at 9:25 a.m. and start our parade with the Blue Whales class.  Families are welcome to dress up too.  Please help your child change out of their costume after the parade.  If you are OK with them wearing their costume all day that is fine too, but we will be our normal messy selves and play outside that day.

Bundle up baby, it’s getting colder out there! Enjoy this beautiful weekend.

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Calling All Pumpkins!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

Poof! Just like that, this week flew by. The Ducks enjoyed using our dollhouse, building with Magna Tiles on our light table, and scooping kinetic sand in the sensory table. We explored the letter S and thought of several words that start with it. We packed a lot of fun and learning into four days!

On Thursday, we took out our bikes and pedaled them round and round in our parking lot. Before the bikes could be ridden, they needed a good washing so out came the bucket and sponges. Soon, every bike was cleaned up and ready to go. Everyone did a good job of taking turns as we only have six bikes. Those who wanted to take a spin on a bike waited patiently for their turn. This was such a good lesson in teamwork and manners.

THE BIG BIKE WASH!

PUMPKINS - Next week we will be studying pumpkins. We will look at the outside, the slimy parts inside, and talk about all those seeds. If you’d like to send in a pumpkin, we’d be ever so grateful! Big, small, any color will do. Autumn gives us the best teaching materials, doesn’t it?

CONFERENCES - Thank you for making time in your schedules to chat about your child this week. I’m grateful for the kind words and encouragement you all shared with me. Know that Ms. Carina and I are enjoying each day we get to spend with your children, watching them bloom and grow.

NEXT WEEK…. We will have individual photos taken on October 16. The photos will be outdoors under the bell tower. We handle it all at school - you don’t have to be present. You will be sent a link to view the photos and to purchase them (optional.)

OCTOBER 31 - We hope you can join us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village (inside if raining).  Please send your child to school in their costume and drop them off at the classroom at the regular time.  The Ducks will meet parents and special grown-ups outside in front of the church at 9:25 a.m. and start our parade with the Blue Whales class.  Families are welcome to dress up too.  Please help your child change out of their costume after the parade.  If you are OK with them wearing their costume all day that is fine too, but we will be our normal messy selves and play outside that day.

COATS & CLOTHES - As the weather changes, remember to update your child’s change of clothes for the fall/winter. Also, we DO go outside everyday, so as jacket-weather approaches, please put your child’s name in the jacket and hat. Thank you!

Cheers to long weekends!

Peace.

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Welcome October!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,

We’ve seen some amazing things on the playground this week. Friends are inviting others around them to join them in their games and adventures. We’ve witnessed such patience while crossing our big building blocks. The monkey bars that have been daunting for some in the beginning of the year, no longer seem as difficult. We’ve had a couple of “ouchies” happen while running and when a child is in distress from it, our ducks coming running to see if that person is okay. We are noticing that they are forming a caring family and we love it!

Working together

We’ve had such fun with science this week! Thank you for your encouragement in this. We saw different leaves, sticks, pumpkins, flowers, an animal skull, and a frog. It has promoted such rich conversations during our circle time. It has also given those who are sharing, confidence about speaking in front of a group.

We’ve busted out the paints this week. Our easel now has tempera paint on it every day. Our friends have been painting families, houses, and rainbows and they are amazing! We also used watercolors when we painted our black crayon, leaf rubbings. They are hanging on our gallery wall outside our classroom.

Thank you to all who have generously purchased items off of our Amazon wish list. We, and the children are delighted by these surprises! It also helps stretch our budget during the year.

CONFERENCES take place next Tuesday/Wednesday, October 8th & 9th. We’ll meet in a small room across from the Duck hallway (there will be a sign). Ms. Carina and Ms. Melissa will be in the classroom with the children, and and I will be meeting with you. I look forward to chatting with you about your children! Here is the link to the sign-up if you still need to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080B4CAEAA2DA5F94-51503242-fall

LOOKING AHEAD…. We will have individual photos taken on October 16. The photos will be outdoors under the bell tower. We handle it all at school - you don’t have to be present. You will be sent a link to view the photos and to purchase them (optional.) The photographer, David Gellately, will also offer family photos on Saturday, Oct. 19. Debbie sent an email with more details & a link for you to sign up for family photos, but you can also see the sign up here.

OCTOBER 11 - Teacher training, preschool closed for students

OCTOBER 31 - We hope you can join us for our Halloween Costume Parade around Southern Village (inside if raining).  Please send your child to school in their costume and drop them off at the classroom at the regular time.  The Ducks will meet parents and special grown-ups outside in front of the church at 9:25 a.m. and start our parade with the Blue Whales class.  Families are welcome to dress up too.  Please help your child change out of their costume after the parade.  If you are OK with them wearing their costume all day that is fine too, but we will be our normal messy selves and play outside that day.

LOST & FOUND - We are trying to find the owner of this cute, navy blue sweater. It was found in our tunnel after school one day a few weeks ago. Please let us know if this looks familiar.

Is this your child’s sweater?

Congratulations if you made it to the end of this long blog.

Happy weekend!


Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina

Lunch Bunch Begins!

Hello Yellow Duck Families,


Our first week of Lunch Bunch went very well! Everyone was able to distinguish their snack from their lunch easily. Thank you for your help with that. We’re hearing sweet conversations and new questions around the tables in our room each day we eat together. Never before have we seen such excitement about eating lunch!

Our collaborative art piece will be finished next week and will hang on our bulletin board above our writing table. It’s called “Layers of Leaves”. The children all painted a leaf a shade of blue and then pressed it onto blue poster board. Some children painted one leaf and others did several, and almost everyone had to wash the blue off of their hands. We also had a discussion about how leaves in nature are not blue, but in our imaginations they can be any color!

Carefully painting a leaf

Blue hands!

MATH

We traced our shoes this week and used squares of paper for measuring them. Each child glued the squares from the top of the shoe to the bottom. Then they counted up the squares and wrote the number on them. They are displayed proudly on our bulletin board by our book shelf!

Math is so much fun!

SCIENCE!

We would like to invite your child to bring in any science specimens they might find out in their corner of the world. Instead of a traditional show and tell, we prefer to do it this way. Everybody gets to play this way because most science is accessible and FREE! We learn about nature and your child gets a chance to share about what they brought. Last year, we had so much excitement about dead frogs, snake skins, butterflies, rocks, sticks, shells, flowers, and leaves, to name a few. We have a microscope for the tiny specimens if needed, and ways to creatively display some of the rare ones.

Some science that crawled into our room!

Hello Mr. Caterpillar!

ABCs

This year we will have many ways in which we will learn about the alphabet. We started with the letter A and will skip around the alphabet until we’ve finished. Recognition and sound will be practiced. The children will tell us what starts with the letter of the week and we will attempt to draw some pictures that start with that letter on our paper. They will be very badly drawn pictures but that’s part of the fun! The children will be able to use the white board throughout the day, writing vertically to help strengthen those hand and finger muscles. We also have a shelf that we will fill up with letters and the tiniest of objects that start with each letter. These can be held and then put back in their position when done. Auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners will hopefully, all be able to learn the alphabet better this way.

We learned about the letter A this week

CONFERENCES take place on October 9th & 10th. Each sign-up slot will be 30 minutes and we’ll meet in a small room across from the Duck hallway (there will be a sign). Ms. Carina and Ms. Melissa will be in the classroom with the children, and and I will be meeting with you. I look forward to chatting with you about your children! Here is the link to the sign-up if you still need to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080B4CAEAA2DA5F94-51503242-fall

LOOKING AHEAD…. We will have individual photos taken on October 15 & 16. The photos will be outdoors under the bell tower. We handle it all at school - you don’t have to be present. You will be sent a link to view the photos and to purchase them (optional.) The photographer, David Gellately, will also offer family photos on Saturday, Oct. 19. Debbie sent an email with more details & a link for you to sign up for family photos, but you can also see the sign up here.

OCTOBER 11 - Teacher training, preschool closed for students

Hopefully, you made it through today safely and are ready for some drier weather. I know we are! See you Monday.

Peace,

Ms. Shelly & Ms. Carina